10 Years Later: Can You Believe It’s Been a Decade Since Derek Shepherd’s Heartbreaking Exit from Grey’s Anatomy?

Derek’s death in Grey’s Anatomy was easily among the show’s most heartbreaking, changing it forever because of what it meant for Meredith, and it happening ten years ago means Grey’s Anatomy has existed as much time without Derek as with. Renowned for killing off its main characters, Grey’s Anatomy was always at its best when it led you to care about a character only to rip them from you, whether they were patients, first responders or doctors. Derek being a Grey’s Anatomy protagonist nonetheless made his death particularly heart-wrenching, for how it affected Meredith and the other Grey Sloan doctors.

How Patrick Dempsey’s exit from Grey’s Anatomy would influence Derek’s exit storyline was unknown until the last moment, with the possibility of Derek and Meredith breaking up being advanced more than once. Indeed, Meredith and Derek spent Grey’s Anatomy season 10 fighting, and a few episodes before Derek’s death, they even fought so horribly that Meredith sent him away to accept the presidential initiative job in Washington, DC. MerDer being a major Grey’s Anatomy couple would have made breaking up go against everything the medical drama had previously established, making Derek’s death the only thing to plausibly motivate his absence.

Derek Shepherd Died On March 26, 2015

The Timeline Of Derek’s Death Was Confusing

The timeline of Derek’s death is muddy, with the day he left effectively appearing over three episodes to showcase respectively his leaving for his last trip to Washington, Meredith’s perspective and worry because of the patients from the plane crash, and Derek’s perspective of his final day at last in Grey’s Anatomy season 11, episode 21. Grey’s Anatomy never officially reveals the day of Derek’s death, but one still from “How to Save a Life” shows Derek’s vitals monitor displaying the date of April 5, 2015, which would have coincided with Easter Sunday in 2015.

Based on how Grey’s Anatomy season 11 marked the year of Meredith’s absence from Grey Sloan Memorial with key holidays throughout the years starting with Easter, Derek would have had to die before then. Moreover, when Penny tells Meredith how sorry she is and Meredith reminds her she can’t quit or Derek’s death would have been in vain, she mentions it being Thursday. This places Derek’s death happening on Thursday, March 26, 2015, in Grey’s Anatomy season 11, episode 21.

Grey’s Anatomy Is Used To Deaths, But Derek’s Passing Remains Its Biggest Loss

Other Protagonists’ Deaths Didn’t Impact Grey’s Anatomy As Much As Derek’s

Over the years, Grey’s Anatomy became synonymous with emotionally eviscerating deaths, more often affecting patients who had partially become the focus of the story or loved ones connected to Grey’s Anatomy’s doctors. However, the medical drama also killed off beloved doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial, with Lexi and George’s deaths being easily among the most heartbreaking. Still, no other Grey’s Anatomy death reshaped the medical drama as Derek’s did, despite protagonists having died before in the show. Derek’s centrality to the story was to blame for his death being so consequential in Grey’s Anatomy, but that wasn’t the only reason.

Indeed, Derek being one half of MerDer, a couple so many supported and wished were together over the years, made it impossible for his death to be insignificant. A massive part of Grey’s Anatomy’s first half focused on Meredith and Derek’s romance, keeping audiences glued to their screens whether they were together or not. Derek’s death effectively shifted the world off its axis, and Grey’s Anatomy season 11, episodes 22 and 23 relayed that, as the episodes showed how everyone else that wasn’t Meredith reacted to the news, being affected by Meredith’s disappearance but even more by Derek’s sudden death.

How Derek’s Death Changed Meredith & Grey’s Anatomy

The Medical Drama Changed Massively After Derek’s Death

Even after Meredith’s return to Seattle with Zola, Bailey and Ellis, how Derek’s death changed the show was perceivable in various storylines. With his death making both Meredith and Amelia lose the most important person in their lives, it inevitably strengthened Meredith and Amelia’s bond, indirectly making the sisterhood of Meredith, Amelia and Maggie possible. Similarly, Meredith’s career could have never truly taken off with Derek still alive. Meredith’s memories in Grey’s Anatomy season 11, episode 21 showed his wish to expand the family, and season 10 also highlighted how difficult it was for Derek not to take career opportunities.

Derek’s death also made it possible for his and Meredith’s marriage to be preserved, as Meredith’s memories of their relationship remained unsullied by a potential breakup, which could have been easily on their radar had he survived, given how putting a hold on his career was a contentious point in both Grey’s Anatomy seasons 10 and 11. Finally, Derek’s death in Grey’s Anatomy season 11 practically made Meredith the sun even in the eye of the series, making it possible for the medical drama to focus especially on her instead of also as one-half of a major couple.